


A Festive Present of the Past

by Crystal_Ieris



Series: Being True [4]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alpha Xander, Alpha/Omega, Avatar Fathered Inigo, Invisible Kingdom | Revelation Route, M/M, Omega Laslow, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:07:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21637102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crystal_Ieris/pseuds/Crystal_Ieris
Summary: After a talk with Inigo, Xander prepares a Christmas surprise that brings memories of the past back to bring back some happiness from his childhood.
Relationships: Eudes | Owain/Marc | Morgan, Lazward | Laslow/Marx | Xander
Series: Being True [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1187426
Kudos: 24





	A Festive Present of the Past

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoy this new installment! This is the first of 25 christmas fics I am doing of various fandoms, and the first of a set of Alpha/Omega FEF christmas fics.

Xander was sorting through some boxes in one of their suite’s closets, trying to get an idea for his mate’s christmas present. When he asked outright he had simply said he had everything he wanted while playing with their two children. 

He pulled out a few boxes from within Inigo’s personal wardrobe. The boxes seemed to contain his various dancing accessories, from belts that jingled to rings attached to ribbons. He reached back inside and pulled out another box, finding that the box was much heavier than the others that he had pulled out. He opened the box up to reveal a beautifully jeweled ornamental sword, the hilt was gold and had various stones from a dark red to brilliant oranges and yellows. The sword was heavy like a normal sword but from the material it seemed to be far more fragile, and thus had probably never seen combat. 

“The rubies represent Gules, the Lifesphere.” A voice spoke up from behind him.

Xander turned quickly, not having heard his lover enter, and as he did he cut himself along the edge of the blade. Quickly pulling his hand away, Inigo quickly grabbed the first aid kit they kept in their rooms and returned, grabbing his husband’s hand gently. He began to put pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding some. Once he got it stopped for a bit he looked at it and shook his head at the tiny cut before wrapping it to keep it from bleeding further.

“Just a flesh wound.” Inigo spoke. “I apologize, I hadn’t thought I would surprise you so badly.”   
“It is quite alright.” Xander glanced back at the blade, looking over the edge for any blood that may have gotten onto it. “I hope that the blade won’t tarnish.”  
“It shouldn’t,” Inigo spoke up, taking the sword and grabbing out a cloth from under the padding to wipe it down.   
Xander watched him, a smile on his face at the caring look on Inigo’s face. “What is that sword for? It looks too fragile to be for fighting.”  
“It’s for dancing, like my rings or fans, a more Regna Ferox tradition.”   
“Dancing?”  
Inigo nodded. “Yes dancers would use swords for a more intense dance, generally around festivals.”  
“Festivals? Like the Winter Festival?”   
“Exactly, though aside from swords dancers more proficient with magic use that as well.”  
“So what all did the Regna Ferox Winter Festival entail?”  
Inigo smiled. “Lots and lots of drinking for one thing. But other then that we had booths set up in town, a fighting ring was set up as well. Though the main events were decided by the Khans of the respective region.”  
“What did your region do?”  
“Lots of drinking and gambling opportunities. It was basically one big party, every tavern was open late there were samples of drinks. Dancers out in full swing showing off their skills, and a few other things.”  
“No exactly child-friendly is it?” Xander spoke with a frown.  
“Not at night, during the day though there are tons of things for kids to do. A scavenger hunt in the palace, a children’s tournament, lessons in various craftsmanship. My grandfather is certainly rambunctious but he also loves children, he always made sure that during the day the children always had something to do.”  
“What did you like to do?” 

Inigo was quiet for a moment before he turned away, looking sadly at the back of the couch in the room. Xander hated that sad look on his lover’s face, and he regretted asking. The younger man probably hadn’t done anything at such festivals. 

“Jewelry making.” Inigo spoke up after a moment.  
“Jewelry?”   
Inigo nodded. “Regna Ferox had a lot of mines, it was one of our main goods. The blacksmiths and jewelers would always set up tables and help kids make jewelry.”  
“I’d love to see what you made, if you still have them.”  
Inigo shook his head. “They were my presents to my mother and Marc for Christmas, actually Marc may have some still…”   
“I’m sorry…” Xander apologized. 

Inigo smiled sadly, a look Xander hated seeing on his lover’s face, it was the same smile the dancer used to hide his true feelings. Ever after all these years Inigo still hadn’t killed the habit of hiding what he was really thinking or feeling. Xander was still learning how to navigate those moments, he knew that if he pushed too much that Inigo would just act like nothing was wrong. But leaving his lover to stew over the thoughts was bad as well, it could put him off for days and then he’d feel like he needed to fake it around the children.

Xander looked at the sword in his mate’s hands, an idea coming to him. “Gules, what is that?”  
“What?” Inigo asked, snapping out of his thoughts.  
Xander pointed to a large ruby. “You said the rubies represent something called Gules?”  
“Gules is one of the five sacred stones needed to harness the full power of our realm’s Fire Emblem, the Shield of Flames. Gules is the one that was watched over by Regna Ferox over the years, I don’t quite know how that came to be, but my grandfather was the keeper of it during the war.”   
“You called it the Lifesphere?”  
Inigo nodded. “It’s other name probably comes from the fact that it’s a deep red color. There’s the Darksphere, Sable, which is black. Argent, the Lightsphere, is colored white. The Geosphere, Vert, is green colored. Finally Azure, the Starsphere, is a deep blue.”  
“I see, Lifesphere certainly fits if it is red.” Xander nodded. “Did anyone know about your grandfather having Gules?”  
“Not that I am aware of, Flavia hadn’t even known until he gave her the fake.”   
“So how do you know the rubies represent it?”  
Inigo smiled at the sword. “This was a present for my first Christmas after the war. I used it in the for the first time I danced at the Winter Festival. My grandfather was so please, he was the one who told me about it.”  
“That was nice of him.”   
Inigo nodded. “Yeah…”

Xander smiled softly as he saw a genuine smile return to Inigo’s face as he looked over the gemstones. It looked like his questions had brought the omega out of his sad thoughts. Xander was happy that he at least succeeded in that motion. The two sat there in silence for a few moments longer before Inigo helped his mate put the items away, never once asking what the older man had been asking for. 

~

“Jewelry?” Marc asked, looking up at her brother-in-law in slight confusion.   
Xander nodded. “Yes, Inigo was telling me about the Winter Festivals in Regna Ferox and how he would make jewelry as a child.”   
“Hmmm….” Marc cocked her head to the side in thought. “I don’t really remember much about the festivals...I was too young to remember them…”   
“Inigo thought that might be the case. He mentioned you might have some still.” 

Marc was quiet for a moment as she looked lost in thought before turning and leaving her sitting room. Xander wasn’t sure what to do as he watched his sister-in-law leave the room so suddenly. He couldn’t hear fussing so he assumed it wasn’t Darean waking from his nap early, which Xander was relieved about, it had been a few years since Soleil had been a toddler, so he was out of practice. 

He didn’t have long to wait till Marc returned, a small satchel in her hands, and the satchel was quite unique. It looked to be velvet with embroidery stitched into the fabric in intricate patterns. The young woman sat next to him on the couch as she pulled the string from it’s not. The bag open with a bit of coaxing and she dumped the contents carefully on the table before them. 

Jewelry spilled from the bag of various pieces, stones and metals catching in the light of the sun that streamed into the room. Xander looked closely, finding that most of them were rather crudely made, as if a child had put the stone and clay beads on however they please. A few of them were still rather crude but showed better care on how they were made, but like the others before them they all looked old. Scratches were seen on the beads and even the metal or leather on some was snapped.

“When we separated from mother this was in my pack, mother had packed it. I think it’s some of the jewelry my brother must have made. I know this one I wore all the time when I was that age.” Marc explained as she picked one up that had a rather good-sized dark pink gemstone as the pendant. “It’s a spinel, one of my favorite stones.”  
“These certainly look like something a child made, but you had all these christmases together?” Xander was surprised at the amount of jewelry.  
Marc shook her head, reaching for a necklace that had a very light pink colored gemstones next to a few blue stones with white markings on it. “Some of these are our mothers. This one has Morganite and Lapis Lazuli. They’re my mother’s favorite stones.”  
“Your mother gave them to you?” Xander took the necklace from the young lady and examined it.   
Marc nodded her head sadly. “She didn’t need them anymore...my father’s ring was also in the bag. My mother had been keeping them hidden and safe over the years. I think she wanted us to keep them safe after she passed on. It’s just pure luck that we never had to resort to selling them.”   
“I see…” Xander nodded, going to hand the necklace back.

Marc reached up and instead of taking the necklace back she curled her brother’s fingers around it better. She smiled as she held the hand, catching sight of the beads that hung out in the light. She looked at the older man and shook her head. 

“Give it to my brother. I had no right to keep these to myself all these years, though truthfully I had forgotten all about them, and I think Inigo had as well.”  
“Thank you.”  
Marc smiled. “It’s no problem...maybe that’s what I’ll make for his present, something for his performances.”   
“Maybe I should do the same…” Xander thought. “I’m rubbish with such things though, so maybe I have time to commission-”  
“Naga no!” Marc exclaimed. “Just give him that necklace and maybe if you want to do something similar give Sieg and Sol some ideas?”  
“Siegbert and Soleil?”   
Marc nodded. “Have you gotten them anything for Inigo yet? I’m sure he’d love anything his children made more than anything that can be bought.

Xander was silent for a moment longer, contemplating the idea. He had never been good with such things, and he didn’t feel like it would have the best results. But the certainty in Marc’s voice made him think that maybe this would be a good idea after all, if anything for the children to do. Inigo would love anything the children did for him, no matter how disastrous the results were. He nodded to his sister-in-law before he left her home for the evening, mind still racing.

~

That was how Xander ended up sitting in their suite’s living room with their two children early on Christmas Eve. Inigo had been called to Marc and Owain’s house for something, though Xander assumed it was Marc’s way of helping get her brother out of Xander’s way. Earlier that week Xander had approached Oboro as well about jewelry making, assuming that the seamstress might know a bit about the craft, and she did. She was more than happy to provide a few materials for the children to use and when she offered to help and was turned down she let him borrow her tools and taught him how to finish the pieces. 

Xander was reminded about how little he knew about crafting as he watched his children pick out beads and stones to put on the jewelry. He knew the bare basics of sewing and cooking for when out on campaign, but even then most times someone else tended to the tasks. Normally Peri assisted with any cooking and Inigo with any sewing that needed to be done. So his handiwork with simpler more ornate tasks was a bit lacking. 

It was evident in how he curled the wire around the ends of the strips of leather or pull apart the chains to add a clasp. The work was crude and though not terribly obvious to anyone not looking directly at those section, he still felt bad for making the presents not look well. Luckily his children’s designs helped take from the obvious fumbles of his own craftsmanship. 

Soleil picked out beads and stones that stood out and drew attention. Claiming that her dad needed to be the center of attention and that this would help catch people’s eyes. For that she chose such bold colors and designs that it certainly caught Xander’s eyes. The designs themselves were all over the place, even when trying to make matching bracelets each was slightly different in design, though she claimed it just added to the design. Xander laughed as she just reached for pieces quickly, not really giving much though to them. 

At the same time Siegbert was silent, working methodically through his pieces, eyes trained on what he was doing. Xander watched as his son picked out the pieces he wanted to use, and laid them before him in a pattern. The crown prince planning out how he wanted something to look before he even began. On the rare occasion that the plan didn’t turn out right he would start all over. Unlike his sister he chose more subtle colors and designs, and when asked simply stated that they would compliment their dad’s beauty and not take away from it. 

Xander had smiled at the two very different answers to how they approached the presents. He didn’t tell either of them if they were right in their thoughts when asked, he didn’t want to hurt their pride and wanted them to make the decision themselves. Though Siegbert seemed a bit worried about the little insight he was given to if his thoughts were good. Xander knew his son stressed far too much for his age, and always tried to do everything perfectly. 

He tried to ease the responsibilities on the young man but never quite seemed to come across. Xander wondered if he got his worries from him or Inigo, because they both had issues about living up to expectations. Xander understood the need to rise to someone’s expectations, he had done so his whole life, while Inigo was compared constantly to the expectations put on others. He was just happy that Siegbert hadn’t seemed to inherit Inigo’s need to hide his feelings, he was more quiet and serious about things but he didn’t hide them.

Still the older child worked carefully and with a small smile on his face as the three of them discussed that evening. It wouldn’t be too long before Inigo arrived back at the castle, and Xander hoped to present him with the presents. 

By the time the children were done they had full sets of jewelry made. Each had made a necklace of some sort and bracelets. For a bit of extra fun they had worked together for ankle bracelets combining their two designs together. That way Inigo would have something to wear that was made by both of them no matter which set he wore. Xander was glad the two had compromised at this, worrying about if Inigo wore one set too much over the other. Sound outside the rooms caught his attention. 

“Inigo! Welcome home!” Peri’s voice chimed loudly, louder than normal to give Xander some warning.  
Inigo was slow in replying, probably surprised at his friend’s loudness. “Thank you, Peri.”

The kids had begun shuffling pieces around as they tried to make the area look clean. Xander had hoped for some time to clean up before his husband returned. The three tried to make the area not look like a mess as the doors opened and Inigo walked inside. He paused as he stepped into the room, catching sight of his husband and children trying to clean up something from the table. 

“Daddy!” Soleil called out flinging herself at her father.   
Inigo caught her spinning around as he held her close. “Hello to you too sweetheart.”   
“Dad.” Siegbert spoke in greeting from where he stood with Xander. 

Inigo’s gaze moved to smile at his eldest, before his gaze dropped to the table, mouth dropping open slightly. Beads and pendants were still scattered about the table, the three abandoning the task of cleaning up to greet him. On one side of the table sat three pieces of jewelry and on the other directly before Siegbert sat another three. 

“What is all this?” Inigo asked as Soleil let him go and began tugging him forward.   
He allowed himself to be pulled down into a seat as the girl began explaining. “Father suggested for Christmas that we make you jewelry! So we’ve spent all evening working on these! These ones are mine!” 

The girl handed hers to him and began explaining why she chose the designs and such. Inigo smiled as he listened to her, taking in the handy work and the design. The pieces were certainly bright and would definitely grab anyone’s attention, but he loved the time and care his daughter put into the items. 

“Those are Siegbert’s!” Soleil spoke up as she finished, reaching across to grab at her brother’s.  
Siegbert’s hands shooed her away. “Soleil! Let me give them to him.”  
Soleil pouted and went to say something when Xander spoke. “Let your brother present his present himself.”  
Inigo smiled at his daughter kissing her hair briefly before turning his full attention to his son. “So what did you make?”

He listened with a fond smile on his face as his son told him about his ideas. Inigo could tell there was a bit of a competition between the two over which design choice was best. He knew his children weren’t going to ask about it outright though. A quick glance at Xander told him his guess was right, the man must have been beside himself all night helping the children with these. 

“What do you think?” Siegbert asked shyly.   
Inigo was silent for a moment before reaching over and picking up two seperate bracelets and looking over the design which seemed to be a mix of the two. “What are these?”  
“Ankle bracelets!” Soleil started with a smile.  
Siegbert nodded his head. “We designed those together, so that you can wear something from both of us with either set.”  
“I love them. These have to be my favorite.”  
Soleil pouted. “Those ones?”   
Inigo nodded. “Of course because I’ll be able to wear them with either set and think of both of you when I do so.”  
“You don’t have a favorite set though?” Siegbert asked a bit reluctantly.   
“Of course I do, I love both sets equally. Because they come from two of the most important people in my life. These two are my favorite though because this way I will have something from both of you each time I wear them so you’ll both be in my thoughts.” 

The two children smiled as they hugged their dad tightly. Inigo hugged them both back, giving Soleil a kiss on the head and Siegbert a squeeze on his arm, since he hated his dad kissing him on the cheek. The two children pulled back after a moment longer in the hug and Xander gave them both a serious look. 

“Alright, it’s time to get ready for bed.”  
“Yes father.” Siegbert replied, starting to head for the door to his room.   
Soleil pouted. “But I don’t want to sleep.”  
“If you don’t go to bed then Santa won’t come.” Inigo warned.   
Soleil bolted to her room. “Night!”

The two parents laughed as they watched their children bolt behind their doors to get ready for bed. Inigo turned his attention back to the jewelry as Xander continued cleaning up the pieces. The two were quiet as they sat there, Inigo ran a finger over the beads as he studied the details. Though his finger ran over the ends of the jewelry admiring the craftsmanship with a smile.

“I love it.”  
Xander paused. “What?”  
Inigo held up the bracelet. “I love these, thank you.”  
“I wasn’t the one who made them.”   
Inigo smiled as he watched his husband. “No but you listened to my story and suggested this to the children.”

Xander was silent for a moment, just watching his mate before he stood and moved to kneel next to the chair he sat in. Inigo turned to look at him, a questioning look on his face at Xander’s seriousness. Xander reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a small velvet bag with a drawstring. He held it out for Inigo to take, and the younger man did so. 

Inigo opened it and let the contents in the bag fall into his hand. He stared in surprise at the necklace that now lay in his grasp. It had been several years since he had seen this necklace, and like his mother he had thought it lost to him. The necklace looked newer than before, the strap having been replaced, yet there was still some scuffs on the stones that hadn’t been able to be taken out. 

“How did you get this?” Inigo asked, feeling his throat tighten and his eyes water. “I thought this was lost…”  
“Marc gave it to me.” 

Inigo smiled, even as tears fell from his eyes and onto the pink and blue gemstones. It wasn’t long till he was pulled into his husband’s arms, the alpha giving off pheromones to reassure him. Inigo more then happily leaned into the hug, seeking out the warmth of his husband, the necklace held tightly in his hand. 

“Merry Christmas, my love.” Xander whispered.   
Inigo nuzzled his mate’s neck. “Merry Christmas.”

The two stayed like that for a few moments longer before Soleil called out to them to finish tucking her into bed. Inigo laughed at the interruption before wiping the tears from his eyes, though his face was still a bit puffy. They both stood and went to tuck their daughter in before checking on their son as well, before heading for their own bed.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed!


End file.
